


A Simple Life

by LibbyWeasley



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Love, Married FitzSimmons, Perthshire Cottage, Post-Season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-07 01:22:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18400262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibbyWeasley/pseuds/LibbyWeasley
Summary: In a quiet moment Fitz contemplates his life, wondering if a simpler life would have been better.





	A Simple Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ClementineWhy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClementineWhy/gifts).



> So it turns out I really just needed FitzSimmons to be happy and to have everything behind them, so here it is.
> 
> This one is for @ClementineWhy who is the sweetest!
> 
> A huge thank you to @jemleofan for helping me out with the beta <3

Fitz stared out at the pink and orange streaking across the sky and couldn’t help but pull Jemma a little bit closer. Some days he still couldn’t believe they had made it here. She smiled up at him before taking another sip of her tea. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” she asked. 

He was quiet for a moment. The evenings when they sat on the porch swing waiting for the stars to come out was the time they set aside just to themselves and they talked about things — anything and everything. But he wondered if what was on his mind right now was too much — if she would understand what he meant. He felt guilty for even considering it. 

“I was just thinking how different my life would have been without SHIELD,” he said slowly. “Without everything that happened because of it. But then I hate myself for even thinking it because I wouldn’t have met you.”

His eyes were fixed on the horizon, where the sun had disappeared behind the trees, carefully avoiding her gaze until she put a hand on his cheek and turned his face towards hers. 

“What makes you think we wouldn’t have met?” 

Her brow was creased and her nose was scrunched up in confusion, and he couldn’t help but lean forward and press a kiss to her forehead. 

“Well...we met at the Academy,” he said, feeling like he was pointing out the obvious. 

“And without the Academy we would have met somewhere else. After uni we would have gotten jobs and worked our way up...and someday we would have crossed paths, at work or a conference. Maybe even a pub.”

It sounded so simple when she said it, like them being together was inevitable. 

“Yeah, sure. And I would have been one of your one-night stands,” he scoffed. 

Jemma’s smile grew wider. 

“You would have been quite the one-night stand. You can do amazing things with your hands.” She looked at him, considering. “And one night wouldn’t have been enough. I’d probably have snuck into a storage cupboard with you, or maybe even in the lab —“

“Jemma!”

“Yes, Fitz?”

He needed to get this conversation back on track, to get this off his mind. Because the things she was saying right now were sending his thoughts in a very different direction. 

“It took ten years for both of us to realize that we wanted to be together.”

“Did it?” she countered. 

They rocked back and forth on the porch swing and Fitz turned her words over and over, trying to make sense of them. Of course it did, didn’t it? They met when they were both 16 and didn’t get together, didn’t even admit to the possibility of them being together, for nearly a decade. 

“Yeah. ‘Course it did.”

“So you had no idea that we could be anything more than friends? It never occurred to you?”

“Well, the first time we met, of course.” He turned to look at her then. She didn’t _seem_ to be upset by this conversation. “But by the time I could get the words out in front of you I knew it wasn’t worth messing up our friendship.”

“Of course. Our friendship.”

The amusement in her tone was echoed in the smile on her face. 

“What?”

“Well, it just seems like our friendship was the thing that kept us together...and apart.”

Jemma snuggled closer to his side and he wrapped his other arm around her in a slightly awkward hug. Maybe he was starting to understand after all. 

“So you’re saying that if we hadn’t been friends you would have been my girlfriend without waiting for ten years. Because now I’m really wishing I’d never heard of SHIELD.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Fitz. Being brave and noble is part of who you are. SHIELD is part of who you are.”

“I just feel bad that I wasted all of that time.”

“We didn’t waste any time,” she said, taking his hand in hers and wrapping it around her stomach. “We were together, doing incredible things -- things I can hardly believe actually happened -- and that made us who we are. I don’t know where we would have ended up if we had followed a different path, but I love where we are now.”

“I love you, Jemma,” he whispered, moving to kiss her gently on the lips. 

“Oh!”

He felt movement under his hand and tried to pull it back, but she threaded their fingers together and held his palm against her rounded belly. 

“It’s alright. She recognizes your voice and she can’t wait to meet you.”

He sat quietly, waiting for something more to happen. When it didn’t, he said, “You are going to be an amazing mum.”

There was another kick and he gently rubbed circles over his wife’s stomach. This was all more than he deserved. 

“And you are going to be the best father our child could have.”

The night was clear and he could tell it would a good night for seeing the stars. They should enjoy it. He didn’t know if they’d have a chance to do this after the baby was born. 

“I’m sorry. I really am happy with how everything has worked out.” 

Saying the words out loud made him realize exactly how much of an understatement they were. He woke up every single day afraid that the life they had built together was just a dream. It was everything he had ever wanted. 

“You don’t need to be sorry, Fitz. It’s not like I haven’t thought about it, too.”

“You have?” 

“Of course. I always consider all of the possibilities before drawing a conclusion.”

She kissed him on the cheek and he could feel how cold her skin was getting, so he grabbed the blanket from beside him and wrapped it around her shoulders. 

“Even with the near-death experiences, robots, time travel...space, there were wonderful things as well. Science, discovery, making friends, and finding each other in the midst of it.” 

She turned to look him in the eye and he saw tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. Dammit. Jemma didn’t normally cry, but being pregnant was making her far more emotional than normal and he felt like he was making her sad entirely too often. 

“Fitz...I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love you. Every moment we spent together was worth it, and somehow we ended up here just like I had always imagined.”

The love he felt for her nearly overwhelmed him, the way it always did if he thought about how lucky he was, and there was no way he could explain it. So instead of trying, he showed her instead, knowing she’d understand. She had always understood him more than anyone else ever could. 

The sounds of gentle kisses and soft sighs enveloped them. A cocoon of love surrounded them and Fitz knew that nothing else mattered. 

This life wasn’t simple, but it was theirs.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear what you think
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr @LibbyWeasley


End file.
